Deadly Combination

Opinion - Reader Views

November 27, 2001

I notice in the story about an 8-year-old, killed when his father's high-powered rifle went off accidentally, that other hunters at the campsite considered it "just a sad, sad thing" but weren't certain whether anything could have been done to prevent it.

Well, I'm certain. Locked, unlocked, handled by even the most experienced people, for whatever purpose or good intent, guns and children are a bad combination. The odds of this type of accident drop to zero when the two aren't together.

To suggest that such tragedies are a part of life and nothing can be done to prevent them is a real exercise in denial -- and one of the reasons why they keep happening.